Yusuf Arakkal (The Man and The Artist)

History will mark Yusuf Arakkal as a total artist who explored the dark hues of solitude throughout his life. Born at Chavakkad in Kerala in 1945, Arakkal's life was one of swashbuckling adventures and a never-ending craving to express his own artistic creativity. Running away from his native village at the tender age of 16, he reached Bengaluru, into a life full of uncertainty. While the uncertain street life went on to shape the artist in him, it also influenced his creative expressions throughout his career. Arakkal, a self-proclaimed figurative painter, constantly looked at humanity, especially the lives of the marginalised, for inspiration for all his artistic works. That is why his existence as an artist was the reflection of his own life as a 'human being' to the core. This book is an attempt to take a look at the eventful life of Yusuf Arakkal through the huge repertoire of his creative works in different mediums, which also portray his evolution as a man and an artist.

P Sudhakaran is a journalist, art critic and translator from Kerala. He regularly writes on art and culture, and has also written catalogue essays for many art shows. Apart from co-authoring a few books, including 'Faces of Creativity', 'Eternal Quest' and 'Linear Expressions', on the works of Yusuf Arakkal, he has also translated many essays and poems into Malayalam, including the writings of eminent painters like A Ramachandran and Yusuf Arakkal. His translations include 'Aan-nottam' (Male gaze), essays by A. Ramachandran; 'Oru adimappenninte athmakatha', the autobiography of African-American abolitionist Harriet Ann Jacob; 'Adimayude athmakatha', the autobiography of Esteban Montejo, a runaway slave from Cuba, and Dersu Uzala, a rare classic by Russian explorer Vladimir Arsenyev. A journalist by profession, he works with The Times of India.

**Contents and Sample Pages**